Denver Broncos might be sick of hearing about the team’s changes on special teams this offseason, but those changes could have big implications in 2023.
Denver’s special teams units have underperformed for several years now, and new head coach Sean Payton made fixing it a priority when he arrived. Payton hired a new special teams coordinator in Ben Kotwica and a new assistant head coach with a special teams background in Mike Westhoff.
Then the Broncos signed punter in Riley Dixon, added a new return candidate in Tremon Smith, and let long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer walk in free agency, opting to turn snapping duties over to Mitchell Fraboni.
Special teams will no longer be overlooked in Denver.
“I think it’s awfully important,” Payton said at the NFL owners’ meetings last week. “I think it’s one way to improve your team pretty quickly. I don’t think we were very good last year in the kicking game, quite honestly, for a number of reasons. I’ve got a guy like Ben Kotwica, and a guy like Mike Westhoff. Those are considerable resources that I think can help us.
“It would be silly to have those two along with [assistant] Chris Banjo and then not have a punter or not have the correct holder or even a returner that we’re still working on. It has to be an important point of emphasis. If you believe in hidden yardage and you understand yards equal points — each play you’re fighting for those yards. That’s an area that we felt like we needed to improve dramatically.”
Time will tell if the Broncos’ new arrivals will dramatically improve their special teams, but there’s no question that Denver special teams a big priority this spring.
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